All posts for the month September, 2016

Assuming Keith Scott actually had a gun (which I don’t believe) and that we are now seeing that good guy with a gun gets shot by the (plainclothes) police in North Carolina, why is the NRA silent? Is it a stretch to say that the 2nd Amendment only applies to white men? I’m guessing Anton Scalia would say yes, “Guns move too fast for blacks.”

Why does North Carolina put up with politicians that believe “blacks hate whites” and that transgender citizens are bathroom predators? What has there been, 1 maybe? There are more conservative politicians with sexual predatory convictions (or clearly shown cover ups) than transgender bathroom issues. See: Dennis Hastert. I’m not dismissing liberal sexual criminals, but they aren’t the ones driving the laws in North Carolina.

Why must a black man with hands up, assumingly following police commands in Tulsa, be a “bad dude”? Is the false accusation of being a “bad dude” automatically a death sentence?

In a world where many (90%?) of our Law Enforcement officers are good, if not great people, why must they protect the minority that abuse the power and make mistakes (yes I’m being kind) that end lives?

Why do people think that I am anti-police? I’m not. I’m against injustice and the policies and practices that protect the abusers.

In a country where we are proud of our freedoms, including the freedom to protest, why are we focused on one man kneeling during the national anthem as a crime against the country and ignoring what his message is? Why are the angry conservatives ignoring the message in light of recent tragedies that are on point with his message?

Why do people think that kneeling during the national anthem is a slight against the Military? The Military defends the constitution and our rights, not a flag and a song. Peaceful protest is a protected right.

Why do people think that after hundreds of years of slavery and 100+ years of Jim Crow and continued rights violations (see NC and voter restrictions), do people not understand that the black experience in this country is different from all (most?) others? Why do we think there are easy answers? There aren’t any easy steps. We are good at easy. It’s hard. It’s painful to look in the mirror and say, “I’m part of the problem” in some way. But for the most part, if you are reading this, you are. So am I.

In the 30’s, the US ignored Europe. We were worried that Jewish refugees were spies. Then 6 million were executed, along with other targeted peoples. Why don’t more people worry that we are doing this again? Is it because Muslims scare us? Jew were thought to have horns, so let’s get over our Muslim fear. For the record, no one in my family has horns. I won’t speak for other Jews.

Why is it so hard to embrace our heritage of the freedom to practice our religion, when it comes to Muslims? Yes, there are elements of their texts that are harsh and talk of killing those that are different. So does the Christian bible, but we conveniently ignore that. Isn’t that a tad hypocritical? That’s not to say there isn’t an ISIS, terrorism issue in this country. There is. Again, hard problems and difficult work. Profiling and registration database will inflame those given to intolerance of “Western” values. Why can’t we be smarter?

Yes, I think there are too many guns in this country. Yes I think it is too easy to get a gun and way too easy to get a gun capable of killing a great many people in seconds. I’m in favor of keeping guns out of the hands of people that shouldn’t have them. See: Sandy Hook. I’ve never heard a major candidate for president say we should round up the guns; TAKE THEM AWAY! Never. I guess not. But that is what the NRA is advertising. Do people really believe that? Why don’t people realize the NRA is a lobby for the gun manufacturers and survivalists? Who really needs 100 guns? 5 isn’t enough? Because once you go past 5, what are your really saying about your need for guns?

After all the 2nd Amendment guaranties the rights to guns. Do people forget that it takes most of the states to ratify a constitutional amendment? The odds of your guns being taken away in the next 20 years is 0. And if you are worried about 20 years from now, you are being ridiculous. Start worrying about 2036 in 2026. None of us can see that far.

Why aren’t we all working to make this world a better place? What stopping you?